Basic Questions:

1. What passage(s) in the readings did you find particularly interesting? Why? What passage(s) did you not understand?

2. What do the readings reveal about what it meant to be a Christian?

3. What do the readings reveal about the nature of Christianity at the time in which they were produced?

Specific Questions:

4. Now that we have come to the end of The Book of Margery Kempe, what would you say are the essential Christian values in the early fifteenth century, i.e. at the end of the period that we are studying? Illustrate your answer with specific references to the book. You may find Margery's contemplation in Book 1, Chapters 79-81 (pp. 228-38) and her manner of prayer in Book 2, Chapter 10 (pp. 292-97) important in connection with this question, but do not confine yourself to these passages.

5. One of the essay topics asks you to say whether you agree with this statement: "We should not speak of a single, uniform Christianity but of competing Christianities throughout the first fifteen centuries of the Common Era. At issue is not simply the contest between orthdoxy and heresy, but also the different experiences and conceptions of Christianity on the part of the various members of the Church." Are there competing Christianties in The Book of Margery Kempe? Or is there one Christianity that the different people that we encounter in the book would recognize?

6. Another essay topic asks you write on the subject of Christian identity. What on the basis of The Book of Margery Kempe does it mean to be a Christian in the early fifteenth century? Is this essentially the same or different from earlier ways in which Christians expressed their identity?

Remember that your essays are due on Thursday, 28 November at 9:30 in AQ 6018. They must be submitted on time. Follow the requirements stated in the syllabus.